"If I do not speak out and resist, I am an accomplice." Sister Helen Prejean


An overnight vigil was held this week in Washington DC. Protesters are urging the US Supreme Court to stop a Texas execution. 51-year-old Rodney Reed is scheduled to be executed on November 20. He’s been on death row for more than 20 years. Reed and many of his supporters claim he is innocent.

Reading this stuff brings back one of the darkest chapters of my life. I went to Texas, and I witnessed an execution.

In September, 2006, I received a letter from my friend Charles Anthony Nealy, a 42-year-old black man on death row. He asked if I would be his “spiritual adviser” at the time of his execution. How does one respond to a request like that? “No, I really don’t feel like it?” “I’m not qualified, go find someone else?

Marcia and I flew to Texas in March, 2007.

I cannot begin to describe the ugly memories---

The indifference and “business as usual” attitude on death row
The braying bloodhounds in kennels just outside the prison
The refusal to allow contact visits (We’d press our hands together on both sides of the glass partition as I prayed with him)
The laughing and flirting of guards with reporters in the “death house”
Armed guards on the roof as we were led to the death chamber.

In his final statement, while strapped to the gurney, Anthony thanked me for being there. Then, as his sister Debra and I watched, the State of Texas murdered my friend. Chemical one put the prisoner to sleep. Chemical two stopped his breathing. Chemical three stopped his heart. Right in front of our eyes. The silence was deafening.

Where were my profound words of sympathy to Deb and my expressions of faith in this traumatic time? Seems like I could have found some powerful piece of scripture, like Death, where is your sting? Instead, I mumbled, “Have you ever seen such horse-shit?”

I couldn’t wait to take a shower. I couldn’t wait to get out of Texas.

Sister Helen Prejean, among those fighting for a stay of Rodney Reed’s execution, says:

If we believe that murder is wrong and not admissible in our society, then it has to be wrong for everyone, not just individuals but governments as well.

It’s time to pray not only for a stay of execution for Rodney, but for a halt to this nonsense.



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